“When Yahweh your God has ⌊exterminated⌋a the nations concerning whom Yahweh your God is giving to you their land, and you have dispossessed them, and you have settled in their towns and in their houses, 2 you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. 3 You shall prepare the roadsb for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that ⌊it will be available for any manslayer to flee there⌋.c

4 “Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live there who has killed his neighbor ⌊unintentionally⌋,d and he did not hate him ⌊previously⌋.e 5 ⌊For example⌋,f when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron head slips from the handle of the tool and strikes his neighbor and he dies, then he may flee to one of these cities, and so he may live. 6 He does this lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because ⌊he is hot with anger⌋g and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance to the city of refuge, and so ⌊he kills him⌋,h but ⌊he did not deserve a death sentence⌋,i because he was not hating him ⌊before⌋.j 7 Therefore I am commanding you, ⌊saying⌋,k ‘You shall set apart three cities.’ 8 Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he swore to your ancestorsl and givesm to you all the land that he ⌊promised⌋n to give to your ancestors,o 9 then ⌊if you diligently observe this entire commandment⌋p that I am commanding you ⌊today⌋q by loving Yahweh your God and by goingr in his ways ⌊at all times⌋,s then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three. 10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shedt in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance and thereby bloodguilt would be on you.u

11 But if someone hatesv his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises upw against him ⌊and murders him⌋,x and the murderer flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death. 13 Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, ⌊so that good will be directed toward you⌋.y